[April 1-3]
The first few days of my break were spent with my dad and Brittany. We strolled the Explanada, had an incredible lunch overlooking the Port, sipped wine with my host mother, feasted on tapas, and even played a little on the beach.
[April 3-6]
Brittany, Dad, and I were able to visit Barcelona for a few days. We hit most of the main attractions in the city; Sagrada Famila, Gruell Park, etc. as well as some great tapas bars and Irish pubs. We stayed in a great little apartment right off of Las Ramblas. Brittany and I spent our last day together on the beach, catching up on life. My dad was also able to have some alone time exploring the city...I'm sure he needed it after spending 5 days with us two girls.
[April 6-11]
After an incredible time in Barcelona, my dad and I headed for Sevilla (my favorite city in Spain). I loved showing him around the charming cobblestone streets. We toured the cathedral, strolled along the river, sampled the local cuisine, and even made friends with some lovely Spanish women. After a couple of days in Sevilla we took a bus to Granada. I also had a great time showing my dad around this beautiful city. I showed him all of the main points and was impressed with my memory of how to get around the city. After 5 wonderful days we took another bus back to Alicante so that we could recooperate before our big Italian adventure.
[April 12-15]
My dad and I flew into Pisa on the night of April 12th. We stayed at a hotel near the bus station and anxiously awaited the arrival of my brother Justin, his wife Nikki, their two kids--Maddy and Wyatt, and Nikki's two brothers. We experienced our first Italian pizza in Pisa, it was delicious! Justin and the family arrived early the next morning. I couldn't believe how big Maddy and Wyatt had gotten! We spent the morning walking around the city and were able to see the Leaning Tower. Shortly after we took a train to Cinque Terre. I'll give you just a brief explanation of Cinque Terre for those of you who don't know...it's Heaven on Earth. No not really, but definitely my favorite place in Italy. It's a combination of five quaint coastal cities; Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso that are tucked into the cliffs bordering the Mediterranean Sea. There are no cars allowed in these five coastal villages so you can imagine how clean the air was. The five towns are connected and are a day worth of hiking will take you through all five. We stayed at a great hostel in Manarola, where an adorable Italian man cooked us some incredible Italian food. We hiked from Manarola (the second town) to Vernazza (the fourth town) and stopped for lunch. By then Maddy and Wyatt were all hiked out so I finished the journey to the fifth town by myself and met everyone else who took a boat. The hike was incredible. There were so many times that I would just stop and look out over the sea, feeling like I was the luckiest girl in the world. We took a boat from the 5th town back to the first and then hiked to the second town that we were staying in. I absolutely loved Cinque Terre, thinking about my time there is bittersweet.
[April 15-17]
After an incredible adventure in Cinque Terre we headed by train to Florence. Thanks to Justin's amazing research skills, we stayed at another great hostel. I really enjoyed our time in Florence. Again, we did the normal tourist activities. Justin and I even went for a run through the city, which was incredible! We ate too much gelato and I tried water buffalo mozzarello cheese, the most amazing food ever made! The buildings and statues in Florence were beautiful. Nikki recommended that we climb "the tower" of the cathedral, the view from the top was literally breath-taking. We spent our almost all of our second day hypnotized by the unbelievable leather market.
[April 17-18]
The last day of our adventure was spent in Venice. It was such a cool city...I'm still facinated by the fact that the streets really are ALL water. We got a big surprise within the first 20 minutes of being in Venice, we met Rick Steves. Rick Steves is basically the master of travel. Long story short--my friends and I had been joking about the posibility of meeting Rick Steves when we heard he was going to be in Europe updating his travel guide...well I was the lucky one! haha My family was so excited! We got our picture taken, he signed guide books, and even complimented my dad's "Rick Steves" backpack. We saw a little of the main city and then took a boat to the famous glass island where we were given a private tour of a glass blowing facility. We spent the day wandering through all of the shops, looking for famous Venetian glass souvenirs. Our time in Venice was short and sweet. It was really expensive compared to all of the other places we'd visited and everyone was exhausted after so much traveling, so it was the perfect day to end the trip. We said our goodbyes and went our seperate ways. My dad and I took a train to Milan where we were supposed to fly out and back to Alicante...little did we know, our big adventure was only beginning.
[April 18-23]
To be continued....
at first i thought you just snapped some close up shots of random children. good to know that they aren't strangers.
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